Tax free childcare essential extras?

[Xmasallyear]

Apologies if this has been asked recently but can anyone tell me if tax free childcare can be used to pay for essential extras? My bill only has essential extras, no whole paid for days which is why I'm unsure.

I use the 30 hours free funding for two children but am still coming to a bill of around £300pm.

To be honest it's still a massive chunk of my wage on extras and wondered if this would be a slight saving.

Forgot to add, I have obviously looked online but can't seem to find anything concrete!

Pretty sure it only covers hours not extras

I can't see anything that says it must be used only for the hours, only that the provider must be registered.

You can use your tax free childcare to pay towards the whole nursery bill. They don't care which bit of it you are paying for. My kids are in school now and I use it to pay for after school club.

Yes, you can use tax TFC to pay for the extras. You can use it for any part of the nursery bill essentially much as you can for certain clubs and groups (if registered).

Thanks all!

Yes, TFC cover everything but UC won’t cover extras. Might be worth weighing up if you have a choice between the two.